Raul Castro in Angola for second visit in six months

Raul Castro Luanda - Cuban President Raul Castro was due to hold talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos Tuesday on his second visit to the oil-rich southern African nation and longtime Cuba ally in under six months.

Castro arrived in the capital Luanda on Monday from the desert state of Namibia to Angola's south.

Castro and dos Santos were to hold talks at the presidential palace "to analyse the cooperation between their two countries," Angola's state press agency Angop reported Tuesday.

Trade delegations from the two countries were also scheduled to hold talks and sign a number of bilateral accords before an official lunch hosted by dos Santos in Castro's honour, Angop said.

In February, Castro, 78, made Angola the first African country he visited since replacing his ailing elder brother Fidel as president last year.

Cuba and Angola have close ties dating back to Angola's 27-year civil war, which broke out after independence from Portugal in 1975.

Fidel Castro sent tens of thousands of Cuban soldiers to assist the ruling Marxist MPLA fight off two US-backed rebel movements as Angola became the battleground for opposing Cold War ideologies.

The war ended with nearly half a million dead in 2002.

Apart from military support, Cuba has also provided Angola with tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, teachers and technical personnel and given around 20,000 young Angolans scholarships to study in Cuba, Angop noted.

Castro spent Sunday and Monday in Namibia, another African country whose independence struggle Cuba supported, where he held talks with President Hifikepunye Pohamba and met first post-independence president Sam Nujoma. (dpa)